1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lubricating oil feeding structure of an engine, particularly to a lubricating oil feeding structure suitable for an engine of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
A lubricating oil feeding structure of an engine is generally provided with an oil pump for suctioning lubricating oil (hereinafter simply referred to as the “oil”) in an oil reservoir and feeding, an oil filter for purifying the oil fed from the oil pump, and an oil cooler for cooling the purified the oil.
FIG. 9 is a multi-cylinder engine described in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2007-77925. An oil cooler 300 is detachably attached to a front end surface of a crankcase 301, an oil filter 302 is detachably attached to a front end surface of an oil pan 303, and an oil pump (not shown) is provided in a lower portion in the crankcase 301. A water pump 305 for cooling the engine is attached to a lower end of the crankcase 301. A plurality of exhaust pipes 311 is connected to a front surface of a cylinder head 310. These exhaust pipes 311 extend downward in the vicinity of a front end surface of the engine, pass through the lower side of the engine, and extend rearward.
FIG. 10 is an engine described in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-11955. An oil cooler 402 and an oil filter 403 are attached to a front end surface of a crankcase 401 while they are arranged side by side in the front and rear direction.
In the engine of FIG. 9, the oil cooler 300 is attached to the front end surface of the crankcase 301 where the exhaust pipes 311 are arranged. Thus, the oil cooler is easily influenced by exhaust heat of the exhaust pipes 311. Thereby, the oil cooler 300 is heated, so that an oil cooling performance is lowered. It should be noted that when the exhaust pipes 311 are arranged so as to be away from the oil cooler 300, the layout of the exhaust pipes 311 is complicated. Further, since the oil cooler 300 is attached and detached from the front side, the exhaust pipes 311 are disturbed at the time of attachment and detachment. Thus, attachment and detachment tasks of the oil cooler 300 are not easily performed.
In the engine of FIG. 10, a forward projecting amount of the oil filter 403 from the crankcase 401 is increased, so that size of the engine in the front and rear direction is increased. Particularly, in a utility vehicle, a distance between a rotating member, such as a propeller shaft or the like, and the oil filter 403 becomes short. Similarly to FIG. 9, the propeller shaft and the oil filter 403 are placed at closer positions. Thus, the attachment and detachment tasks at the time of replacing the oil filter 403 are not easily performed.